Mobile fluoroscopy “C-arm” systems are used in radiology departments and operating rooms (ORs) throughout the world. Quite often, the C-arm systems are required to be operated in different locations within a medical facility or different locations in a room. The C-arm systems are steered and maneuvered during transport from one location to another in mostly a “forward” direction.
Improved ease-of-transport and maneuverability continue to be high on the list of needed improvements. As mobile C-arm systems approach the equivalent functional features and image quality of fixed-room fluoroscopic X-ray systems, (counter to the goal of improved maneuverability), mobile C-arm systems are becoming larger and heavier. Higher power X-ray generators, higher capacity X-ray tubes, and flat panel solid state X-ray detectors requiring on-board cooling solutions, all bring the mobile C-arm one step closer to state-of-the-art fixed-room system performance, but also increase the size, and significantly increases the weight. Maneuvering the C-arm systems is becoming more and more difficult as the C-arm systems become heavier.
The most recent C-arm systems weigh more than 700 lbs. The next generation of C-arm systems will weigh even more. “O-Arm” devices can weight two or three times as much as a C-arm. In the environment where the C-arm systems are normally used, mobile C-arms may be moved from room-to-room several times in a day. It is not uncommon to move the mobile C-arm systems between a radiology department and the surgery department, which are often on different levels in a hospital. Pushing the mobile C-arm system can be a physical challenge for people of large stature, but is even more difficult for people of smaller stature.
Carpeted floors are not uncommon in healthcare facilities, and are becoming increasingly common. Pushing the mobile C-arm systems across carpeted surfaces is difficult.
For the reasons stated above, and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification, there is a need in the art for improved ease of transportation of mobile fluoroscopy C-arm systems, or other mobile imaging systems.